Madras High Court restrains Tamil Nadu from naming schemes after MK Stalin
Citing schemes such as 'Ungaludan Stalin' and 'Nalam Kaakum Stalin Thittam', which carry the Chief Minister's name, the petition argued that such branding created undue political mileage at the expense of the public exchequer.'Mentioning the name of the incumbent Chief Minister in the nomenclature of the scheme and all such pictorial representations is in violation of various judicial pronouncements of the Hon'ble Supreme Court as also violative of Government Advertisement (Content Regulation) Guidelines, 2014,' the petition stated.Appearing on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson termed the petition politically motivated and ill-founded, aimed at tarnishing the image of the ruling party and its leadership.He questioned the selective targeting of the scheme's name, asking, 'When government schemes have been named after NaMo (a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and Amma (used for former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa), why can't there also be Ungaludan Stalin?'The High Court clarified that it was not issuing an order against the implementation of the schemes themselves but only objected to their nomenclature and promotional content that included names or images of living personalities. The court observed that government welfare initiatives funded by public money should remain politically neutral in presentation.- Ends
IN THIS STORY#Tamil Nadu
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